


Birthday Kisses

by jackandsamforever



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 19:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2163156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jackandsamforever/pseuds/jackandsamforever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom's birthday gift was the last straw. Liz turns to Red after a disastrous birthday and after realizing that he was telling the truth about Tom, and a new tradition is born. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Kisses

**Author's Note:**

> Since we don't know Liz's actual age, I'm just guessing, so no getting upset at me..haha
> 
> Set towards the end of Season 1

Liz sighed miserably as she walked through the front door of her brownstone and threw her keys on the entryway table. It was her birthday today, and after a shitty day of paperwork at the Post Office, she wasn't in the mood to celebrate; especially since she was going to be thirty-four. Where had the time gone? She remembered thinking when she was sixteen that thirty was forever away, and that when she was that old she would be married to the perfect husband with three kids and a dog. Well, she had a dog, and a husband; but he wasn't anywhere close to being perfect. Neither was she for that matter, but at least she wasn't suspected of being a murderer and a traitor.

She was beginning to believe Red about Tom, he'd done a good job of putting doubts in her mind about her husband that hadn't previously been there. She found herself watching Tom's every move now, and he had asked her more than a few times if something was wrong. She knew she was acting different, but she couldn't seem to make herself act completely normal around him anymore.

Then there were her complex feelings for Red that seemed to grow and evolve every time she saw him. She felt like she was betraying her husband each time Red comforted her by holding her hand, or pulling her into a tight embrace, but she never rebutted his offers of comfort. She _liked_ them. He made her feel safe when it felt like her world was falling apart around her, even though he was the one who was making that world crumble. She didn't understand her attraction to him; it was the ultimate irony. One that she tried not to think about too often or too closely.

Annoyed at her train of thought, she walked into the kitchen and immediately spotted a gaudily wrapped gift on the counter. A small smile stole over her face as she fingered the curly ribbon tied at the top. She reached to pick it up when a set of arms wrapped themselves around her middle, then a whispered, "Hey, babe." In her ear. She tried to push the longing for it to be Red instead of Tom, and put on a wide, fake smile and turned in his arms. "Hey, Tom. Did you wrap that?"

He laughed and without answering leaned down and kissed her. His stubble scratched her delicate skin, and she found she couldn't hold back a wince as he pulled away and nuzzled his face in her hair. "I did. Happy birthday, Liz," he whispered against her neck.

She frowned in slight revulsion and scratched his shoulders lightly in thanks, then put a smile on her face and pushed him back so she could see him. "What is it?"

He raised his eyebrows and squeezed her arms lightly. "Open it and find out."

She turned and made quick work of the ribbon and paper, then opened the box her gift was housed in. It was one of the ugliest sweaters she had ever seen. And that wasn't an exaggeration. Since her birthday was in December, he frequently gave her Christmas themed presents. Usually they weren't too bad, but either he was playing a joke on her this year, or he really did have horrible taste. It was green, with reindeer, snowmen, and Santa Claus's spread out around the entire sweater. Then to top it off, there was a gold star at the little dip of the collar. She felt a little sick just looking at it. "Oh, Tom. It's...festive. Thank you."

He wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her against him. "I was hoping you would wear it tonight when we go out to dinner. It would look beautiful on you."

She tried not to laugh out loud as she pictured how ridiculous she was going to look. But she wasn't in the mood to fight with him over it, so she would wear it and pray that she didn't see anyone she knew.

"Um..yeah..it will. So, I'm going to go get ready and we can leave in an hour or so, ok?"

He kissed her neck once more and hummed in agreement. She allowed him to touch her for another moment so it didn't look like she was anxious for him not to touch her, then she pried his fingers away and grabbed the sweater off of the counter then walked dejectedly up the stairs.

She hadn't thought that this day could get any worse, but she had been wrong.

OOOOOO

"Babe, did you hear what I said?" Liz blinked and smiled apologetically, disturbing her from her troubling thoughts about Red. This was the third time he had had to get her attention.

"I'm sorry, Tom. I guess I'm more tired that I thought. What did you say?" They were in a nice, but not very fancy Italian restaurant. She wore the green monster reluctantly, and she had caught more than a few winces from the patrons as they had been seated. She was beyond embarrassed.

"I asked if you were feeling well. You look pale." He took another bite of his pasta, then looked at her expectantly.

It's probably the sweater, she thought, but didn't say. "Oh, I'm ok. Like I said, I'm just tired."

He nodded and handed her the basket of breadsticks. "Breadstick? You haven't touched your pasta. Are you not hungry?"

She rolled her eyes internally. He was nagging, and it was annoying. Maybe he had been assigned to gather information about her, then nag her to death. As she took a breadstick with a small smile, she couldn't help but wonder why she had ever been taken with him. She had been blind to all the little things that were annoying, and now that Red's information about him was beginning to come to fruition, she found herself despising those little faults. She needed to leave before she gave herself away.

She stood up abruptly. "I need to use the bathroom. I'll be back."

He looked at her with narrowed eyebrows, but nodded. "Ok, I'll be here."

She hurried inside the bathroom and locked the door behind her, then leaned against the door. She felt tears well up and quickly pulled her phone out of her purse for a distraction.

She called the first person she always thought of these days. He picked up on the second ring.

"Lizzie?" He sounded curious, but also a little bit concerned. She shouldn't be calling him on her birthday of all days.

She took a deep breath to get her emotions in check and cleared her throat. "Red, I can't do this anymore," she whispered.

"Can't do what?" He said in a low voice, matching her tone.

"I can't keep pretending that everything is ok with Tom. I just can't." She let out a little sob and covered her mouth with her free hand.

"Lizzie-"

She cut him off. "No, Red. I need to get out of here. I can't take anymore of it tonight."

He sighed audibly. "What would you have me do?"

She thought over her options for a few moments, then said, "Call me in five minutes and pretend you're Ressler. Tell me we have a case, and that I have to be there tonight."

"Sweethe-"

"Please, Red." She knew she was begging and probably sounded pathetic, but she no longer cared. She had to get out of there. Now.

She heard muffled voices for a few seconds, then his voice came back on the line. "I'll call you in five minutes. Dembe's on his way to pick you up. Tell Tom the FBI is coming to get you."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

He hung up without another word. She straightened up and checked her appearance in the mirror. At least her eyes weren't puffy, miracles never did cease.

Satisfied, she walked out and sat back down at their table. Tom smiled. "Better?"

She smiled genuinely, feeling like she was about to be freed from prison and nodded. "Much."

He nodded and gestured with his fork that she should eat. She picked it up and swirled the spaghetti on her fork, then took a bite to satisfy him. It tasted like cardboard, but she managed to choke it down.

She began to twirl another forkful when her cell phone rang from her purse. She faked a loud sigh and dug it out. "Keen."

"Keen, we have a case," said Red in his best Ressler imitation. She almost laughed at how much he sounded like her partner.

"It's my birthday. I'm out with Tom, I can't-"

He cut her off. "There's a car coming to pick you up. Sorry Keen, your party is going to have to be cut short."

She rolled her eyes for Tom's benefit and nodded. "Fine, I'm at the Italian place down on Seventh. I'll be waiting." She hung up and tossed the phone back in her purse.

Tom reached over and took her hand. "Babe, what's going on?"

She frowned. "I have to go. There's another case that apparently can't wait."

He knitted his eyebrows together angrily. "Liz, no. It's your birthday, they can't just make you leave."

She shrugged and pulled her hand out of his. "There's nothing I can do. I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Yeah, whatever. We've done this too many times, I should just come to expect it."

She stood up and grabbed her purse off the table. "I don't want to fight about it tonight, ok? We can talk about it tomorrow."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, we'll see."

"I'll see you late tonight or tomorrow." She moved to walk past him, but his hand caught her wrist.

"You're not going to kiss me goodbye?"

She leaned down and kissed his cheek, not able to bring herself to kiss his lips, then squeezed his shoulder goodbye and walked out of the restaurant and into the cold winter air. It felt like heaven. Like she could finally breathe. She had seen Tom's face as she walked away, and it scared her. He looked furious.

Red's black Mercedes pulled up to the curb before she could further analyze Tom's anger. She opened the door and slid into the back seat before Dembe could get out. Red wasn't with him.

She smiled at the bodyguard and patted his shoulder. "Thank you, Dembe."

He nodded and pulled the car away from the curb. "You will not be able to hide from Tom forever, Liz."

She leaned her forehead against the window and closed her eyes. "I know," she whispered, "I know."

OOOOOO

Dembe escorted her into the Hempstead house and quickly helped her out of her coat. "He's in the library."

She nodded at him in thanks, then walked into the library to see Red sitting on the end of the couch reading a book by way of a tall antique lamp standing next to him. It cast a dull, yellow light over him, and she couldn't help but soak in his appearance like it was manna from heaven. He wore black dress pants with his belt unbuckled, along with a white pin-striped shirt and an unbuttoned black vest. His sleeves were rolled up, and she could see the blonde hair on his arms glowing softly in the light.

Before she could process that he wasn't wearing shoes, he looked up from his book with a slight smile and pulled his black-rimmed glasses off. "Lizzie, I'm glad you made it safe—good lord! What are you wearing?"

She winced and pulled at the sweater self-consciously. "Tom's birthday gift."

Red sat up and grimaced. "He should be shot just for giving you that."

She silently agreed, but shook her head. "Red," she said warningly.

He held up a hand in apology. "Let me find you something to wear so I don't go blind while trying to look at you. Make yourself at home."

He stood up and walked out of the room, his belt buckle clinking as he walked. She sat down tiredly and picked up his abandoned drink from the coffee table. It was that white, disgusting moonshine, but she would drink anything at this point.

She finished off his drink just as he walked back in carrying one of his white dress shirts. He held it up. "This will have to do."

She stood up and walked over to him, then took it and smiled. "Anything is better than this thing."

He pulled at the sleeve with a disgusted look on his face. "Yes, well..you can change in the bathroom across the hall."

She nodded and walked past him and into the bathroom. She quickly pulled the offending object off, then slipped his dress shirt on and buttoned the buttons quickly. After she was finished, she studied herself in the mirror and swore quietly when she saw her red bra clearly through the shirt.

She debated what to do for a few minutes, but soon realized that she didn't care. Red had seen it all before anyway. Not with her, but with countless other women.

She picked up the sweater and walked out of the bathroom to see him perched on the edge of the couch waiting for her to return. He stood up and held out his arms. "Much better." She saw his eyes track downward, then he swallowed and looked back up, choosing not to comment on her bra choice.

She nodded and threw the sweater on a chair by the doorway, then walked over to the couch and sat down heavily. "Thanks for the save, Red."

He sat down next to her, close enough so that their shoulders were touching, and nodded. "Anytime, you know that. I'm just sorry you have to keep up with the charade. It's not fair to you, but I hope you understand why it must be done."

She closed her eyes and leaned a little closer to him. "I do...I guess."

They sat in silence for a few moments until he reached over and squeezed her hand. "I have a gift for you."

She resisted the urge to turn her hand in his and lace their fingers together and looked at him. "You didn't need to do that."

"It's not something I purchased, but I think you'll enjoy it all the same." He sat forward and picked his wallet up from the coffee table, then opened it and pulled out a photo. "It's something I came across while digging up information about your birth mother."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why would you-" She trailed off as soon as she saw look on his face. She knew he wouldn't answer it anyway.

He handed her the picture and she leaned towards him and the light so she could see better. There was a beautiful, dark-haired woman sitting in a rocking chair with a dark-haired toddler in her arms. Liz sucked in a breath. "Is that my mother...and me?"

He nodded and tapped the photo. "I have no earthly idea what her name is, but I do know that that is you, and that is your mother."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she studied the woman. Liz looked a lot like her mom, and her heart hurt at the thought that she wouldn't ever get the chance to see or talk to her. A tear fell onto the photo. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her free hand, then looked up at Red with a watery smile. "Thank you. I don't want to know any details about how you know so much about my life because it'll probably piss me off, but this means more to me than you know."

He smiled and slid his arm around her shoulders.

"You're welcome." He moved his head down so he could look her in the eye. "Are you going to be ok?"

She took a deep breath and turned to look at him, their faces inches apart. "Eventually." She found herself glancing down at his lips and felt a sudden urge to kiss him. He was being so sweet, and she felt all out of sorts. That could be her excuse for what she did next.

She moved forward and brushed her lips over his top lip, then captured his bottom lip with hers as he exhaled against her mouth. She pulled back slightly and kissed the corner of his mouth lingeringly; his skin rough because of the late hour. Before she could pull away, he brought his hand up to her jaw and pressed a kiss to her cheek intimately.

After a few moments he moved back, then said quietly, "Happy birthday."

She frowned and stared at the picture she held in her hand. "Red, I shouldn't have done that. I can't..I don't.."

He interrupted before she could continue. "There are far too many reasons why I shouldn't kiss you, but I'm having a hard time coming up with any good ones."

She looked at him, then looked back at the picture. "Birthdays."

He leaned close again. "Pardon?"

She cleared her throat. "We only kiss on our birthdays. I can't handle more than that. We shouldn't even be doing it at all, but I can't deny that I want to."

He smiled and kissed her temple. "Mine's in February...but what about Tom?"

She leaned into him and squeezed his knee. "I don't give a damn about Tom. We're not actually married anyway. I'm going to need some kind of release in the coming months, and your birthday will be a good distraction."

He was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events and decided to be bold. "Since we're being so open and honest at the moment, I like your choice of bra color. It's fitting."

She just rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. She was safe for the moment, and she wanted to revel in that before she had to return home to Tom and his lying face.

Liz yawned and closed her eyes. Red's body was warm, and she was comfortable. She didn't want to face the outside world anymore. She wished she could stay there forever.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is obviously somewhat AU, but it could be fun as the seasons progress to see how close they get, and Red trying to kiss her on days besides their birthdays. ;) I want to write out at least three seasons worth of birthdays, maybe more. I would love to hear what you think! Thanks for reading. :)


End file.
